Airborne 08.18.17

Second Fatal Crash At Air Races In Three Days

ANN REALTIME REPORTING
09.13.07 2145 EDT: Aero-News has received word of a second
fatal accident at this week's Reno National Championship Air
Races.

Air race president Michael Houghton told KRNV-4 pilot Brad
Morehouse of Afton, WY was lost when his L-39 Albatros went down
during the second heat of the jet competition Thursday afternoon,
at approximately 1425 local time.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, though race
officials told the television station initial reports indicate
Morehouse's plane may have been caught in the wake of a jet ahead
of him.

Competition was suspended Thursday following the crash, although
Houghton says he expects the races to resume Friday.

Thursday's accident marks the 17th fatality in the 44-year
history of the storied air race competition, and the second in
three days. As ANN reported, the pilot of
the Rose Peregrine RP-5 biplane was killed when the plane crashed
just after takeoff during a practice flight Tuesday night.

Officials later identified that pilot as Steve Dari. His was the
first fatal accident at Reno since 2002.